Locking device



1944- w. A. HEIDMAN ET AL 2,356,403

LOCKING DEVICE Filed Feb. 9, 1942 \JiHiam A. H'eidmam '5 Wimam A. Heidmamgb; g; '0 Ma v A'mwge s v Patented Aug. 22, 1944 UNITED STATES- PATENT m William A. Heidman' and William A. Heidman, .m, Grand Rapids, Mich.

, l Application February 9, 1942', Serial No. 430,064

7 Claims. (01.-

This invention relates in. general to a locking device: which is particularly adapted for use in connection with a closure member having a swinging or lateral movement. While. our invention may be applied to various devices, we have preferred, for purposes of illustration, to show the mechanism as applied to the pivotal-1y mounted swingable ventilating window of an automobile door. I I 1 The mechanism in general consists of a pin mounted on the frame of the door and a housing mounted on the movable window. An opening is provided through the window at an edge thereof through which the pin passes when the window is in closed position. Within the housing aball retainer is located which is adapted to hold a plurality of balls between which the end of the pin is received. A yielding force is applied to the balls which is transmitted to the pin thereby frictionall-y engaging and gripping the pin' to prevent opening of the window.

Devices of this general nature embodying. the frictional engagement of balls against a pin have been known heretofore, but their application have been limited to devices wherein a straight line movement is had between the balljretainer and the pin. No difficulties arise in the use of. mechanism of this general nature whenthe locking mechanism is to be moved in a straight line away from or toward the pin providing the part carrying the locking device is freely movable relative to the pin, but when such a device is applied to a closure member adapted tolswing about an axis, certain difficulties must be overcome because the locking device moves in an arcuateor inaccurate path with respect tothe pinand is constantly changing its position in a lateral direction with respect thereto. It will be obvious, then; that former devices of this character could not be used on a swinging member because the locking dc-- vice does not approach the pin with a straight line movement but rather froman angle and yet in a closed and locked position of themember the lock and the pin should be in direct alinement'.

Our invention then resides in the novel rnecha nism which permits a lock of. this. character to be used on a swinging closure memberfandiwhich permits the lock to approach the" pin. from (an angle. Also the lock is arranged to automatically center itself on the pin inspite of inaccuracies in assembling the window in the frame. The various details of structure and advantages'arising therefrom will appear more fully as the de scription proceeds, such description being made vmore clear when considered in connection. with the accompanying drawing wherein; I Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through an automobile door showing the ventilating window sec- .tion' in closed position with our invention attached thereto, the window being shown in open position indotted' lines.

Fig. 2 is. a fragmentary side elevational. view of. the door and windowtherein' with 'certain parts. broken away to show details.

Fig- 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on a. horizontal plane through'the locking device of our invention.

Fig. 4 is a section through the device taken substantially on the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a section through the device taken substantially on the plane'of line 55 of Fig. 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing. the automobile. door itself is generally indicated at l and the portion of the window which is swingably mounted and may be used for ventilating purposes is indicated. at 2. This portion of. the window is mounted one. channel frame 3 in the usual manner which has a pivot pin 4 located at its upper side and another pivot pin 5 extending downwardly from its lower side into the door frame. In. accordance with. usual construction, the doorv frame is provided with a channel member 6 within which is located a length of yiel'dable material T such as rubber. A portion of this material extends. outwardly as at 8 around the ventilating window against which the edge of? the. window abuts when in closed position to insure a tight seal. The structure thus. far is in accordance. with recognized practice.

the lower part of the window and beneath the channel 6 a bracket .9 is secured through which the pivot pin 6 passes. Spaced downwardly from the bracket a collar I'D is securely held on the. pivot pin by mea'ns of a nut, and a coiled compression spring ll bears at one end. against the'collar and at. its: other'end' against the bracket 9. This construction is conventional'andi is. for

the purpose of creating frictional resi'stancefto outwardly from the narrow portion of the open-- ing as shown at 20 to thereby provide a funnelshaped entrance to receive the pin.

A collar 2| surrounds the ball retainer and has a tapered opening to receive the retainer with the balls thereon. A compression spring 22 surrounds the extension I9 and bears at one end against the shoulder provided between the extension and the main body of the retainer and at its other end against the upper end of the housing I4 thereby normally urging the balls against the :sides of the opening in the collar 2I. 'Such a force against the balls will urge them inwardly thereby maintaining a gripping action against the pin when it is located as shown in Fig. 3.

A button or knob 23 surrounds the housing I4 and has passed therethrough the pin 24 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The extension I9 of the ball retainer is' provided with an opening 25 which loosely receives the pin 24 and since there is a considerable space between the collar 2| and the sides of the housing I4, the ball retainer and the collar will be free to move in a lateral direction with respect to the pin I3 about the pin 24. The spring 22 also has lateral clearance to permit this movement.

From the position of the device as shown in Fig. 3, if it is desired to open the window the knob 23 will be grasped and a pull exerted thereon. This pullwill move the pin 24 outwardly against an edge of the opening 25, from which point the ball retainer I! will be moved against the force of the spring 22. As the ball retainer moves the gripping pressure of the balls I8 against the pin I3 will be released and the force of the pull will then swing the window to open position. It is to be noted here that before any movement :of the window can take place the frictional resistance as provided by the compression spring I I must be overcome.

Still further it is to be noted that immediately upon release of the pin I3 and as the window is opened, 'a change of relationship takes place between the ball retainer and the end of the pin since the ball retainer is being moved in an arcuate path. The retainer and the collar associated therewith will be free to move in a lateral direction. to thereby prevent binding and permit the window to be freely opened. Also the spring 22 is such that when it is completely compressed it acts as a stop member to prevent the ball retainer'from being moved beyond the confines of the collar, which would otherwise permit the balls to drop out of their sockets. Also it is to be noted that the diameter of the pin I3 is considerably less than the opening through the tubular extension I5." This is necessary to permit the window to swing free of the pin in its arcuate movement. The central opening in the ball retainer l1 and its extension I9 is larger than the pin I3 which permits the parts to function properly in spite of inaccuracies of alinement and positioning.

resistance caused by the spring II at the window pivot acts to insure full release of the balls II. If there were no resistance to movement the balls would relieve their frictional grip of the pin I3 only enough to permit them to slide thereon. In order to overcome the resistance caused by the spring II the spring 22 will be considerably compressed, probably to its limit, thereby completely releasing the balls I8 from the pin I3.

After the window has been opened and it is desired to close it a push against the knob 23 will be transmitted to the window either by its hearing at one end against the window or by the shoulders 26 thereof bearing against the end of the housing I4. It is to be noted that when I the knob is seated in this way the pin 24 is in an During the opening movement the frictional intermediate position in the opening 25 so that upon a closing of the window the pin 24 will not engage any part of the extension l9 and thus no force will be exerted against the ball retainer.

Also the clearance within the knob is sufficient to avoid contact with the head of the extension I9. As the mechanism approaches the end of the pin I3 the wide opening in the tube I5 will receive the pin at an angle and the funnel shaped opening 20 in the ball retainer will receive the end of the pin I3 and the retainer and collar associated therewith will be moved laterally until they are directly in line with the pin I3 thereby automatically centering the two members.

A still further advantage arising out of the free movement of the ball retainer and collar is the fact that manufacturing inaccuracies need not be held down to a minimum. No precision in dimensions is demanded by this construction since the parts are freely movable and will automatically regulate themselves to effect the desired result.

, It will be recognized that a departure of the specific spring mechanism as shown at 22 may be had if desired. It is not necessary to incorporate the yieldable force against the ball retainer and the stop means to limit its outward'movement in the same member as has been done here. For example, a different form of spring could be used for this purpose and a separate stop member applied to the ball retainer if sodesired.

It-is also conceived. that the pin I3 may be tapered outwardly toward its free end. This will increase the gripping action of the balls I8 making it possible to use a lighter spring 22 if desired and will also prevent any tendency of the balls to slide on the pin. Also, if the closure is not tightly closed any vibration which may occur will cause the balls to ride downwardly on the tapered surface of the pin I3 resulting in eventually automatically bringing the closure to its seat.

From the foregoing it will therefore be obvious that we have provided a novel form of ball friction means in order to adapt this type of lock mechanism to a closure member having a swinging movement or one which moves in a fixed path not necessarily in accurate alinement with the pin.

Other modes of applying the principle of our invention may be used insteadfof the .one here explained, change being made" as regards .the structure herein disclosed, provided, however, that the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent'of such. stated, means beemployed.

We claim:'"'" p 1."A1ock of the class described comprising,

a pin, a housing having an opening considerably larger than the in to receive said pin, friction means within said housing to receive and hold said pin, said friction means being movable laterally of the housing whereby to receive the pin and means extending exteriorly of said housing to release said friction means.

2. A look of the class described adapted to be affixed to a closure member pivotally mounted in a frame, comprising, a pin attached to the frame, a housing secured to the closure member having a tubular extension thereon passing through said member and adapted to receive said pin, friction means within said housing and movable laterally thereof to receive and hold said pin, and means to release said friction means whereby the closure member may be opened.

3. The combination of elements defined in claim 1, wherein said friction means includes, a plurality of balls between which the pin is received, a ball retainer, a collar surrounding said retainer with a tapered opening therethrough, said collar being laterally movable in said housing, and yieldable means urging the retainer and balls against the sides of the opening through the collar, as specified.

4. A look of the class described comprising, a pin, a housing having an opening to receive said pin, friction means within the housing to receive said pin and movable longitudinally to release the pin, yieldable means urging the friction means into engagement with the pin, an operating knob extending outside of said housing and means for connecting said knob to said friction means with a limited free longitudinal movement relative to each other.

5. The combination of elements defined in claim 4 wherein said friction means is movable laterally relative to the housing.

6. The combination of elements defined in claim 4 wherein said knob also has a limited free lateral movement relative to the friction means.

7. The combination of elements defined in claim 4 combined with means to stop movement of the knob in the direction of the engagement movement of said friction means at a position intermediate the limits of 'the free longitudinal connection between said knob and friction means.

WILLIAM A. HEIDMAN. WILLIAM A. HEIDMAN, JR. 

